COLWYN — A three-member faction of borough council Democrats has taken its case to court in an effort to have three other council members removed from their elected positions.

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of the borough Thursday by Lansdowne attorney Michael Schleigh, purporting to be the borough’s solicitor, Democratic Councilwoman Patricia Williams is seeking a declaratory judgment against fellow council members Paul Meuser, Fred Lesher and Jesse Brundage.

Lesher and Brundage were elected in November to their first terms on council, while Republican Meuser was re-elected to his fifth consecutive term. All three were sworn in alongside Massa Kamara, elected to fill an unexpired council seat, at the borough’s Jan. 6 reorganization meeting. But according to the court filings, Meuser, Lesher and Brundage failed to file the correct paperwork and did not take the oath of office.

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The legal action follows a tumultuous meeting called to discuss an application for a U.S. Community Development Block Grant, which was highjacked by the Democratic trifecta of Williams, Tonette Pray and Martha Vanauken. At the beginning of the meeting, Williams immediately called for a point of order and read from a prepared statement that cited several sections of the Pennsylvania Borough Code. Williams alleged that Lesher, Brundage and Meuser had failed to provide sworn affidavits of residency and certificates of election prior to being sworn in on Jan. 6. Further, she alleged that those three failed to take the proper oath of office at the meeting.

“The aforementioned defects which would have otherwise qualified the unqualified defendants have never been cured and are fatal to their qualification to serve as councilpersons for the Borough of Colwyn,” the filing states.

Lesher, Meuser and Brundage say they filed everything with the then-borough secretary, who they later voted to replace.

At the meeting last week, Williams, Pray and Vanauken voted to remove the three councilmen in question, and then took action to install three new people in those seats, which the Democrats claim are vacant. Pray, who claimed authority to swear in the new council people because she is a notary, conducted the oaths of office even as the borough engineer was attempting to make a presentation about grant applications to have borough streets resurfaced.

After Pray completed the swearings-in, she, Williams and Vanauken left the meeting, which they said was adjourned by a majority of the newly constituted council. The remaining four council members continued with the borough’s business, including approving the grant application, for which the borough had already been granted an extension because it was several days late. The council also heard information about the 2014 budget, or lack thereof, from newly hired borough Manager Paula Brown.

The lawsuit also seeks to undo all of the actions taken by the council, which includes the controversial hiring of Brown, well-known as the former mayor of Darby Borough. She is also named as a defendant in the suit.

“Defendant Brown is now holding herself out as also being appointed to the positions of treasurer, secretary and mayor’s secretary. A properly constituted council of the Borough of Colwyn has never voted on such appointments,” the filing states.

In the days after being hired as borough manager, Brown has said she has found numerous irregularities and suspicious financial activity going back several years.

According to Brown, the borough had at least eight debit cards attached to accounts at local banks, some issued as recently as Dec. 6. Brown said bank statements indicate said four were issued to Pray, the former council president, one to Vanauken, one to Williams and one was issued in July in the name of a former councilperson who had resigned eight months earlier. She provided bank statements that indicate several purchases had been made using the cards on Jan. 8, two days after the borough’s reorganization meeting.

Brown said that upon assuming her role as borough manager two weeks ago, she discovered that the borough’s financial records were either horribly disorganized or altogether nonexistent, making it nearly impossible to determine the fiscal state of Colwyn.

“The budget they passed in December, the total is $1,644,629,” Brown said at the meeting. “I’m not exactly sure if this is an accurate budget with accurate figures because we can’t find anything.”

Brown added that the accounting software used in the borough offices is password protected and nobody will turn over the password. The borough’s checkbook is also missing, she said.

“I am not able to access the Quickbooks accounting software system that was used (to prepare the budget) because they have refused to give us the password,” Brown said, referring to the Democrats on council.

In the meantime, Brown said the borough has enough cash flow to operate for maybe two weeks. A Tax Anticipation Note listed in the budget for $300,000 was never applied for, Brown said. Tax Anticipation Notes are a common tool used by municipal governments to increase funds on hand at the beginning of a new year. The loan is used as a bridge until tax revenues are collected in the spring.

“We have enough to make payroll this pay period,” Brown said. “And if we don’t spend any money, we may have enough to make the next payroll.”

As for the debit cards, some suspicious charges are being looked into and Brown said that if any malfeasance is discovered, it will be turned over to law enforcement.

“Any improprieties we’ll turn them over to the proper authorities,” she said.

Meuser, who has been on council for 16 years and was chosen as council president earlier this month, said he was not aware of the borough’s financial state because for the last few years, council Repulicans were shut out of Colwyn’s business by the Democratic majority.

“We were in the dark,” Meuser said. “We asked questions, but couldn’t get any answers. Now I’m finding out why we were kept in the dark.”

Council is next scheduled to meet on Thursday to take action on the 2014 budget, which Brown said she has to recreate from the ground up with whatever figures she can corral. A hearing on the injunction request has not yet been scheduled.